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IntelliDraw: a mini-Freehand?



Author: Chris Reavis
Date: June, 1994
Keywords: Aldus freehand application program software review art painting drawing paint draw
Text: Looking for a simple, inexpensive painting/drawing program that, while not over-featured, has some useful features? IntelliDraw might just be your ticket. Granted, this is not Fractal Design's Painter, nor is it Illustrator or Photoshop. Sorry, it won't do your dishes, cook your dinner, or talk to you. However, you get a ton for your money ($50 MacWarehouse) from IntelliDraw especially considering this is version 1.0! Installation was quick and easy using 5 double density disks and the standard Apple Installer. On my Centris 650, it took less than 5 minutes for a full installation, which includes over 5 MB of clip art worth keeping. In fact, there are all sorts of office furniture clips complete with 3-4 different views of each item. While the packaging doesn't adhere to environ-mentally conscious minimals, there are many goodies inside, including a video and a handy laminated Quick Reference card. Believe it or not, the video was actually useful! It started with the basic drawing/painting tools, and included in-depth information on many of the painting tools. This helps us (non-manual readers) to soak-up information - especially if you make use of those jog controls on your VCR remote. While many fear manuals, this one is rather clearly written, and I could find no major bugs in it. Actually, upon reading this manual, I may just read others by Aldus (that I've been avoiding with a passion!) No major quirks to report with my full accompaniment of 35 extensions. IntelliDraw likes to have 2400K to run - and it flew! It booted, ready to rock-and-roll, in less than 3 seconds. Using the program was a joy, and I've switched over from SuperPaint 3.5. While Aldus and Adobe are one in the same now, I hope their paint/draw products head towards IntelliDraw. There are major signs from it's big sister, Freehand. For those of you SMUGians lucky enough to see the demo (or own the product), you would be very impressed with IntelliDraw's similar features, such as the gradient options and drop-down boxes. In fact, the Aldus rep could have shown IntelliDraw for much of the presentation, and would have still received the same ''ooohs'' and ''ahhhs''. What I like best about the product is its flow-charting/work-flow features. Like programs costing ten times as much, IntelliDraw is smart enough to remember links, understand hierarchies, and let you rearrange your chart easily. After putting it through about 30 rigorous data flow and entity relationship diagrams for a final CIS project (if you have to ask you don't want to know - trust me), I was VERY impressed. For fun, I put together a quick and simple picture using the clip art provided by Aldus. From start to finish, with several iterations, this picture took literally 8 minutes to create - that's including my less-than-040-brain during finals! Granted, it's no Rembrandt - neither is IntelliDraw. However, the bottom line is that you can slap together some acceptable, and even exceptional works in minimal time with minimal hassle... nice! Aldus IntelliDraw, Aldus Corporation, 411 First Avenue South, Seattle, WA 98104-2871

Copyright © june, 1994 by Chris Reavis


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